If the family does not have enough money. What to do if the company is constantly short of money? How to get out of a debt hole

The protracted crisis situation creates conditions for a decline in consumer activity in many markets. This ultimately leads to a reduction in the number of enterprises - some have decreased profits, some have no profits at all, and some do not have enough working capital. In this situation, the main thing is not to make more mistakes than your competitors. I will not dwell on the obvious, in my opinion, things: working with receivables and payables.

Let's reconsider our attitude to cost?

I'll start with a question that is obvious to some and not obvious to others (in my experience). Question about cost. Many entrepreneurs and enterprises are still under the misconception that if we take into account all the direct costs of goods (raw materials, components, payments to third parties, etc.) and allocate the rest of our costs (let's call them operating costs - salaries, utilities and rental payments etc.) according to any method for all manufactured goods, then the resulting cost is an objective value characterizing our product.

It is believed that by selling goods below cost, we suffer losses and engage in dumping. But in reality, it is not so important whether a particular product has profitability. The important thing is that the business makes a profit. At the same time, a specific product and a specific transaction may have negative profitability. Even an enterprise that currently lacks working capital, selling goods below cost, earns the difference between the sales price and the direct costs corresponding to this particular transaction. That is, he has additional finances to cover his operating expenses: the decision to sell below cost may in fact be correct.

This means that the concept of cost itself is, to put it mildly, inaccurate. It is necessary to use other financial instruments, and they exist, for example, in such a discipline as financial indicators of the theory of constraints. How do decisions based on the cost concept turn out, especially in a situation of “lack of funds”? Unfortunately, the consequences are very sad. So why continue to step on this rake?

Let's do without the increase in turnover

Now let's move on to a much less obvious question. Once we looked into the situation in a company that sells office supplies wholesale. This was the beginning of the second wave of the crisis. The dollar “jumped” and the commodity mass was halved. Sales fell accordingly. The management of the enterprise saw only one solution - doubling working capital. Is it logical? It would seem so. But the owners had doubts - the return on investment was too low. At least close the direction.

Upon closer examination, it turned out that to ensure the same sales volume as before, it is enough to have half the stock of goods in the system (products in the warehouse plus goods on the way). To do this, you need to move from inventory management based on forecasts and replenishment once a month to inventory management based on actual consumption and replenishment once a week. Why wasn't this solution made before? Because it requires an increase in transportation costs and costs for receiving and processing goods (costs increase again!). But the point is not that our expenses will increase, the point is that our profits and return on investment will increase! In the example considered, profits and ROI increased significantly compared to the decision to “make additional investments.” What is the conclusion from this? Even if it seems to you that you do not have enough working capital, the problem may be in the organization of your business processes.

One more point from the field of inventory management. The crisis has now gone so deep that in many industries goods are supplied to retail on sale terms. And here it becomes critically important for the supplier to manage its inventories with the partner in such a way as to ensure sales to him (avoid shortages) with the minimum possible stocks in his warehouse. Otherwise, the supplier will inevitably face a lack of funds. In this case, the solution method is already quite well known - inventory management at target levels.

The price of money

In the example considered, there was a question of closing a business line. Agree, this is not a rare question during a crisis. And there are often mistakes associated with it. The reasoning is usually approximately the same as when calculating costs - general company expenses are distributed according to some rule between areas (in proportion to the number of employees or sales). Accordingly, we get different profitability of directions. And oh my God - one of the areas is completely taking away profits! A brilliant idea comes - close it! After all, it exists at the expense of other directions.

Such reasoning often ends in a decision to close the direction. And only after this it is discovered that the profitability of the remaining directions has dropped significantly. It turns out that the closed direction covered part of the company’s operating expenses, and now they fell on the remaining directions. And if there wasn’t enough money anyway, there was even less of it.

Let's move on to something completely unobvious (I'm not sure it's for everyone), but very important. Let’s say there really isn’t enough working capital. This means that we cannot purchase raw materials, materials or services from third-party organizations (co-contractors) in full. Most likely, problems with payment of wages are already growing. What is typical for this situation? Expressed in mathematical language, by its nonlinearity. This means that if we let the process take its course, the situation will very quickly develop towards a reduction in working capital. Roughly speaking: if you do not invest additional funds, turnover quickly decreases to zero. If we invest little by little, we will only prolong this scenario and lose additional money.

To survive, we need one-time sufficient injections, the amount of which depends on the cash turnover period and the share of direct variable costs in the selling price of our goods. The situation is being restored so quickly that the funds necessary for investment can easily be taken out on credit at almost any reasonable and even not very reasonable interest rates (20-30% per annum or more). In this situation, it may be entirely justified to sell obsolete inventory at prices of 20-50% of their cost, or to sell goods at cost or lower, subject to prepayment. And again, I am not revealing the secret - the solution is known - management in conditions of limited funds. It's just that few people know him.

In this article I focused only on the issues of limiting funds. It is clear that business suffers from other limitations - market demand, raw materials, capacity (including qualified personnel, management attention, etc.). If there is relevant interest, other types of restrictions can be considered in future articles. It’s just that in today’s realities, the limitation of funds, in my opinion, is the most acute problem. I hope that the ideas and examples given in the article will help someone maintain their business and even succeed. I repeat once again: in a crisis, when demand has fallen, the main thing is to make fewer mistakes than others.

We will discuss in detail how to make decisions when there is a lack of financial resources at the new seminar.

The situation when there is not enough money is familiar to almost every modern person. There have been moments in any person’s life when their means of subsistence ran out ahead of schedule. Therefore, I had to tighten my belts and think about what to do when there is a catastrophic lack of money.

About common reasons

Not many people can figure out why there is not enough money even for two weeks after receiving wages. According to statistics, more than half of Russian citizens do not have enough money to live. Money runs out much earlier than a new salary arrives. This problem affects even the wealthy segments of the population.

The reason is that a deficit in the family or personal budget has long become the norm for each of us. Expenses exceed income even at the state level - in terms of distribution of state treasury funds. Another objective reason is that people do not know how to reduce their demands. For example, a girl who spends almost all day at work manages to pay rent and buy herself perfume for 5 thousand rubles, receiving a salary of 14 thousand. Of course, here the answer to the question of why there is always a lack of money lies on the surface. And this situation is one of the most obvious examples. The industry of expensive phones, watches, and jewelry drives people into debt bondage and forces them to think about what to do if they don’t have enough money by the middle of the month.

About specific reasons

The first problem is that the citizens of our state do not know how to plan their budget. Moreover, when it comes to preliminary purchases, many clutch their heads, dismissing the interlocutor with the words: “Why is it necessary! And somehow everything will work out!” From such an attitude, not only the wallet suffers, but subsequently the stomach, health, and other family members.

It is necessary to understand financial issues, it is important to look for new ways to solve problems. Then gradually you will begin to think less and less about why you don’t have enough money. Paying a loan, pampering yourself with entertainment and clothing the whole family is an unbearable burden for the average citizen. What to do? Plan your budget. And here we gradually approach the second reason. This is the inability to plan your expenses. This means that a person at any second can purchase an expensive thing that will not play a role in his life in the future. Although no... It will play! But already in the form of spent funds that were intended for living in the last week before salary.

Everyone's understanding is different!

Before answering the question “Not enough money to live on!” What should I do?”, it is important to understand the essence of the problem at hand. There are several ways to view this position, namely:

1. The phrase “Not enough money to live!” sounds like a sentence, like an indelible imprint of fate that cannot be corrected in any way. In such a situation, a person of this type panics and literally starts from a seemingly hopeless situation. There were 200 rubles left in my wallet and a fly hung itself! Nobody wants to find themselves in such conditions, because what does a few hundred before payday mean for a city resident? The whole point is that the lack of funds for this type of people is a catastrophic problem that cannot be solved!
2. The second type of people is more loyal to the phrase “Not enough money!” As a rule, by lack of funds they mean the inability to pay utility bills. Here the situation does not seem as catastrophic as in the first case. As a rule, this type of people is loyal to financial problems and tries to solve them whenever possible.
3. People of the third type can exist perfectly well in times of crisis. After all, the essence of the problem, when there is not enough money to live, boils down to the fact that they cannot afford to have fun on the weekend. Accordingly, there is no particular cause for concern.

Based on the above classification, we can conclude that the solution to the issue depends on the vision of the situation by each individual person. For some, lack of funds is a disaster, for others it is the lack of opportunity to spend time with friends over a cup of latte.

The main rule of the financial crisis

If you don’t have enough money to live on, it is important to adhere to the main rule: do not lose hope and optimism. Many people know that a lack of funds is accompanied by despondency and a lack of proper comfort, to which every person or family gets used to. Often at such moments, the earner and breadwinner becomes depressed. As a rule, during the financial period, reasons for quarrels, showdowns, and so on appear. The situation may gradually become so tense that separation is not far away.

Remember that maintaining optimism will allow you to maintain your intrapersonal relationships with loved ones, friends, family, bosses, parents, and so on.

The next, no less important rule is to extract positive experience from every situation. No matter what negativity appears in your life, it is important to see a useful lesson in everything and try not to repeat the mistakes of the past in the future. Analysis of unfavorable situations, including those when there is not enough money, allows you to find new ways to solve the problem, and in the future improve your financial and social situation.

A week until payday. How to organize your life? The first three to the studio!

Agree, living seven days until payday without entertainment, new clothes and going to the movies is quite possible. What to do when you don’t have enough money for food? In case of crisis situations, a special action plan has been developed for you:

1. Collect all the money you have in your house. More than once after payday, coming from the store, you tumbled change out of your pockets, thinking about how it was in the way, rattling in your pockets. Now her time has come. Moreover, very often we do not notice how significant coins wipe the walls of our wallet, without finding their use and implementation for many weeks. For many people, collecting such small change can turn into unexpected wealth. You can spend the collected funds on travel, on simple food, such as rice or other cereals, or on any other urgent expenses.
2. As soon as you notice that you do not have enough money, you need to make a list of products that you need for your continued existence. It is important to exclude from the list those expenses that you can make even after receiving your salary. All activities that require additional expenses (for example, a shopping trip with friends, a business trip for work at your expense) must either be canceled or postponed to a later date. If you explain the situation, then there will be no special problems with determining the date in the future.
3. Give preference to cheap but filling foods. As practice shows, these are vegetables, fruits, cereals, higher quality meat, not harmful sausages, and so on. This way you will not only provide yourself with nutrition, but also take care of your health.

Next three

The above list of items necessary to fulfill during a personal financial crisis does not end there. Pay attention to the rules of secondary importance, namely:

• When there is not enough money for a child, travel, entertainment, it is important to reconsider your daily routine. You need to start cooking every day at home yourself. During a crisis, you will have to forget about snacks or lunches at fast food places for some time.

If such situations happen to you with enviable frequency, then make yourself a list of budget dishes that can fill your empty stomach. For many housewives, this is jellied meat or frozen bones, from which you can always make soup.

About purchasing products

When money is short, it is recommended to purchase exclusively seasonal products. Of course, few people can do without milk, eggs and bread, but in winter you can choose tangerines and apples rather than pomegranates or grapes as fruits. You are very lucky if you live in a region where agriculture is developed. During the same crisis, you can lean on those products that should be of lower cost.

Also, pay attention to store shelves. Very often, goods with yellow price tags are waiting for their buyer. Here it is also important to filter the list of products that have a lower cost. So, it is better to buy 2 kilograms of potatoes at a lower price than 3 chocolates for the price of one.

About buying things

If a difficult situation arises, you need to temporarily limit yourself in buying things. Do you prefer branded clothing and accessories? You will have to be patient and forget about such luxury for a while.

When the situation requires the purchase of a particular item, you can look for it in the market, or even better, in a second-hand store. An excellent way out of this situation is seasonal sales, where once expensive items are sold at a 50 or 70 percent discount. Purchasing the necessary clothing during such periods helps save tens of thousands of rubles.

Public transport

If you go to work across the city every day, then you can save a significant part of your budget by using public transport. Sometimes gasoline costs exceed planned expenses, especially for those who are constantly on the road for work without the possibility of paying for fuel from the company. Well, in this case, you will have to endure some discomfort to save money.

You can also try the option of traveling with a colleague. If this is your close friend, then all you can do is ask. If this is a colleague or just an acquaintance, then you will have to spend a little and get into “share” when you have to pay for gasoline.

Sales

During times of crisis, many citizens use old schemes for buying and selling unnecessary things. Believe me, in the modern world everything can be bought and sold, you just need to put in enough effort.

Ideal items for sale are: books, clothing, household appliances, all kinds of collections, handmade crafts and so on. The Internet is the best assistant in this matter. Post a couple of photos and advertisements for sale, and the long-awaited money will not keep you waiting.

Part time job

The modern cruel world forces you to devote yourself not to one or two jobs, but to three, four or more. The lack of funds forces us to look for new ways to earn money.

One of the most popular is freelancing. Today, the Internet contains a huge number of opportunities, for example, you can teach foreign languages ​​online, write scientific or custom articles, design websites, and so on. The more specialized skills you have, the easier it is to make money on the World Wide Web.

Last exit

When there is absolutely no money left, a person can reach a state that pushes him to commit a crime. In order to protect yourself from such problems, you can use the services of the banking system, namely, get a credit card.

In this situation, it is important to know a sense of proportion and not succumb to the heady feeling of permissiveness and inexhaustible resources. When making a purchase using this plastic document, remember that you will have to pay back with interest. Applying for a credit card is an extreme way to solve the problem, since from time immemorial banks have profited from the insolvency of citizens. If you know that there is a shopaholic somewhere in the depths of your soul, pay attention to other options for finding money for living.

I’m not answering questions yet, my husband came and household chores continued until the evening.

I will duplicate an exciting topic

Second, money. I don’t work, my daughter, we haven’t been to kindergarten for 4 years, there’s no one to sit with her except me, that’s why I’m at home. I work part-time, but it’s quite a small amount, I physically don’t have time for more, my daughter requires attention + household chores (my earnings are usually about 2-3,000 per month). My husband works at a normal job and gets paid normally, but there is always not enough money, especially after we bought a car.
Our upbringing and attitude towards money are completely different, I was brought up modestly and economically, my husband was also modest, but he is a terrible spender, in everything.

No matter how much I plan the family budget, nothing works out; at the end of the month we are always in debt. I can control myself, but he is completely absent.
I tried to write down my expenses, it lasted for a week, then he freaked out on me. I tried all possible methods, put what I needed into envelopes, and as a result, in the middle of the month I was again without money. I gave him all the money, again in debt, took all the money for myself, and by the middle of the month he took it all away. He buys a lot of things that are unnecessary in my opinion, unacceptable in our situation... All my words fell on deaf ears, in the end he generally said that I took it out and filed it away, but I have no idea what to do.
In fact, I felt calmer when he had all the money, but we were still in debt, even more terrible than usual, given the fact that I was already denying myself everything.
Those. I'm freaking out too.
I'll tell you a few situations. Which basically pissed me off.

I want sushi. Well, I want it and that’s it, I’ve been on a diet all month, I eat little, not expensive (kefir, fruits, vegetables) and I really wanted sushi! Especially on my hungry evenings. My husband “has no money” for this (there are many other situations of the same kind, I want to go to the cinema, to the theater, to a museum - I haven’t been everywhere for years (and the sums are not great), there is “no money" for everything. Well, here’s sushi, for two weeks I was whining about this topic, “well, let’s order it,” but “there’s no money,” and on the day when I wanted it especially badly, but it was the end of the month and there was no money, he brought a bag of ready-made dumplings + all sorts of tea , tonics, energy drinks (which he drinks daily), for an amount equivalent to sushi... Although dinner was ready, and he knew about it. I was offended, puffed and finally told him “it’s not fair, it means what I want. there is no money, but for what you want to eat money, it turns out?”, he replied, “but these are dumplings and they are enough for 2 times for the whole family, and dinner is not food,” then I said “but pilaf is what I am! I prepared it for free and it’s enough for 2 times too,” to which he said something incomprehensible to me.

Another situation. I was going to visit my brother in a neighboring city, I had been planning for a very long time, but again he told me “there is no money for this,” and I “I don’t even need it, I’m just visiting, I won’t go anywhere,” in the end, “you’re welcome.” I’m screwed now,” I, “yes, we’ve been dragging this on for 2 years already, much longer, if not now, then it will drag on again until next summer, because it’s already cold.” In short, unexpectedly (even though he doesn’t have contact with my brother), my husband wanted to go with us. Let's go, he grumbled all day, he didn't like everything and spent much more there than planned, and somehow even I was to blame for this “there was no need to go there at all.” But that’s not really what we’re talking about. We were going to visit and I really wanted to buy a new jacket, because... My old one is already 6 years old (I wear it all the time all spring and autumn), it has completely lost its appearance, and in addition it has become narrow. Of course, the answer is “come on later, there’s no money right now,” but I’m bored now, that’s the point, I’m going to visit, I didn’t go and probably wouldn’t buy it (I generally very rarely buy things for myself). In short, I got rowdy and said, let’s borrow from my grandmother, with the salary, and give it back. Still grumbled, they borrowed money. Bought. A couple of days later he received his salary, they paid it right away... and around the same day, quite by accident, I find out that he bought a new alarm system for the car (i.e. before payday, around the same days that I bought the jacket, it seems like even after it. The alarm system is of course more expensive than the jacket, he didn’t tell me about the purchase and didn’t even hint what he was planning, I just saw it myself... That is, he had the money, but he wanted to spend it on a car, so it turns out. ...And I took it upon myself...

In fact, he doesn’t refuse me anything, if you want, we’ll buy it, but when it comes, there’s always “no money”... They paid off last month’s debts, and it turned out that I had 2000 rubles left for food for a month and for everything, the rest is for my daughter's mugs, for parking, for utilities... I say, we have food in reserve, let's take the minimum this month, bread, milk... We live, don't buy anything, eat what we have, invent all sorts of things soups, borscht, my husband also comes home with an energy drink (which means I have money for it, but I can’t take kefir for my child, I’m saving), every other day he buys smoked chicken breasts (and I spent the whole day making dumplings with potatoes, coming up with an economical menu, like make sure the meat is tasty and doesn’t waste money, the child is without kefir)... A day later he brought a nail clipper for the cat, food for the cat, and a day later, bedding for the cat. During these days I bought 2 packs of milk, 4 apples and 2 bananas, a loaf of bread. I don’t know how to react to all this, I talked to him a million times, then she said she cut him down...

In fact, it’s always like this, I constantly feel a lack of money, I save on myself and the child, I feel disadvantaged. I want sushi, juice, a movie, clothes for my child that are more expensive, not on sale - but I don’t buy anything, because... The money I have lying around for the house is always not enough at the end of the month. And at the same time, my husband buys all sorts of junk, juices for himself every day, orders some crap on the Internet (stickers for the car, for the car, etc.), although I approached him with requests to order something, the answer was always the same " there is no money on the card."

I asked to order a gymnastics suit for my daughter, she was alone at gymnastics without a leotard, he said there was no money, let’s do it later. The next day I bought expensive fabrics to cover the cat’s house... I don’t understand where the logic is... It feels like he has money, but he doesn’t give it to us and spends it on his own desires and needs. I want to go to the cinema, again “how much money” and that same evening I came with beer and chips (at the cost of a movie) - he has football on TV.

At the same time, it does not seem to prohibit anything, i.e. Now I can easily go buy it with the 2000 rubles I have, which I put aside for food, some clothes, etc. Then say the same, there is no money. He’ll say borrow it, I’ll borrow it, and at the end of the month it’ll be, “Why give so much money???”

In short, I no longer know how and what to plan. I know for sure that he gets money from some kind of illegal work, but there is no way to influence him. I tried to take the entire salary for myself, I’m sure that he doesn’t give it all to me, what I give him for a month (including gas, lunch + a little more for unforeseen expenses), he runs out within a week and then comes the daily “give me money” and no matter how much you give him (and he always demands a lot), they immediately swim away... He can’t even say where.

Sooner or later, every family is faced with the issue of managing a family budget.

Unfortunately, they begin to do this only when, a week before the date of receipt of wages, the family realizes that there is actually no money. And there is nothing to buy bread and milk with, not to mention more significant purchases. And God forbid that someone from the family gets sick at this time. There is no money for medicine either.

The situation is completely different if there is actually not enough money even for basic needs, and you have to come up with various ways to get money in order to somehow close the hole in your family budget.

What do most people do in this case? That’s right, they go and ask to borrow money, or, even worse, they turn to a microfinance organization for a loan, thereby aggravating an already deplorable situation.

Today’s article will discuss what to do if you don’t have enough money to live on, and what ways to get out of this situation.

Studying your family budget under a magnifying glass

The first thing you need to do to get out of the current situation of complete lack of money is a full and honest analysis of your family budget.

Does your family have at least some source of money? For example, one of the parents works and receives a salary, albeit a small one, or you receive disability benefits, or receive child benefits.

If the answer to this question is positive, we analyze where the incoming money goes.

As a rule, the answer is standard - to pay for housing, for food, for repaying a loan... Actually, in most cases, everything is limited to payments for housing and food.

If there are other expenses, we look for ways to minimize them.

In the end, if there is no work, register with the employment service - they will transfer you some money, albeit small. And they will help with finding a job. And then, you will have the opportunity to find a more interesting and highly paid job.

What to do if there is not enough money for anything? Prices are rising faster than you can make money, and you have to choose whether to pay for utilities or buy a jacket for your child. Planning becomes more and more difficult, and a feeling of hopelessness gradually sets in. It seems that you will never get out of.

The only way to change the situation is to take control of your emotions and take action.

Step 1: Use your time and energy wisely

Finding themselves in a stressful situation, many begin to fuss: “we need to do at least something so as not to think about the bad.” However, as a result of such activities, energy and time that could have been spent on solving the problem are wasted. And by trying to distract yourself and not think about the problem, you move further and further from reality.

Positive changes will only appear when you focus on the problem at hand.

Step 2. Avoid impulse purchases

During a financial crisis, money simply disappears from your wallet. You don’t even have time to keep track of what they were spent on. To clearly control your expenses, eliminate sources of “easy” spending: leave credit cards and most of your cash at home, do not use or turn off online banks. Of course, such measures will only reduce costs for a while, but it will be enough for you to come up with a new solution.

Step 3. Use accumulated reserves

Despite financial difficulties, no one has canceled regular expenses: you will still need to buy groceries, dress, pay for utilities and rent if you live in rented housing. However, you can reduce your spending by using the resources you have accumulated. Inspect the kitchen: often the food you bought earlier can last for a week, so you don’t need to buy anything else.

And after digging around in your closet a little, you will probably find a lot of decent clothes and shoes there that you simply forgot about. By the way, during such excavations, perhaps you will find something that can be sold. Before you worry, look for money at home!

Step 4: Develop your rescue plan

Sudden dismissal, health problems, additional loans, moving - the reasons for your lack of money can be very different. But believe me, you are not the only one who finds yourself in such a situation: similar situations have probably happened before, which means there is already a proven mechanism for correcting it.

You just need to collect the accumulated advice and solutions, and then, based on them, you can create your own program for overcoming the crisis. Having a clear plan will not only reduce stress and fear, but will also help you take action.

Step 5: Do Something Every Day

No matter how great your plan is, it won't change anything if you don't act. So, having drawn up a program, start implementing it. At the same time, direct each step towards solving the main problem. For example, by selling an unnecessary item, pay off part of the loan debt. Every time, check your plan and think about what you can do right now. This needs to be done every day!

Step 6. Tell us about the problem

The best thoughts often come to us when we start talking about our problems to someone else. A financial crisis is just one of the situations that happen in life. So having a heart-to-heart talk, telling about your difficulties to a person you trust will be very useful: by explaining the situation to the smallest detail, you can look at it from the outside.

If you are not in the mood to discuss your problems with someone, describe them on paper. At first, you can just write whatever comes to mind, and then try to structure your notes. The subconscious will definitely tell you an unexpected decision.

Step 7: Don't hide anything from your partner

According to statistics, most marriages fail when they encounter financial problems. Money issues in themselves are often the cause of quarrels, and if there are already other cracks in your union, then a financial crisis will accelerate the breakup.

The only way out is to be honest with your partner. If you expect reciprocity and support, set an example.